One religious scholar is warning that the 2026 midterm elections could prompt a violent response from far-right evangelical Christians.
During a Monday interview with Zeteo host John Harwood, Public Religion Research Institute founder and president Robert P. Jones – who holds an M. Div from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Emory University — spoke about how President Donald Trump's MAGA movement has captured a vast bulk of Christian evangelicals. Harwood asked Jones whether MAGA Christians were excusing Trump's "brutality and cruel behavior" due to innate racism, or if they were simply people fearing becoming a demographic minority and overwhelmed by the "loss of life they were accustomed to."
"Do you feel sorry for the people who are embracing what the Trump administration is doing because they're scared or what?" Harwood asked.
"Well, I should just say I am those people. These are my people. Like I said, I grew up in the deep, deep South," Jones said. "... This is deep for me, and personal. It's a big mix of emotions ... I feel some anger about it, for sure. But I also feel some compassion, mostly because I feel like what has happened is they have let their own fears take control of their lives, and they let it snuff out the primary vision of Christianity, which is supposed to be about love."
"There's even now, in some white evangelical circles, a straightforward and serious theological attack on the virtue of empathy," he continued. "Like that's where we are, right? They're deconstructing empathy because Elon Musk has cast empathy as the great weakness of the Western world ... I think those people are sincerely lost. They're lost religiously, they're lost politically, and I'm hoping we can call enough of them back to the fold in order to save the country."
Harwood then asked questions from viewers, including one who wanted Jones' perspective on whether the United States was on the brink of civil war given the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The viewer pointed to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and residents of Minneapolis asking local police to confront U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, calling it "extremely dangerous."
Jones responded by pointing to parallels from the 19th century, in which Christian denominations frequently split into North and South factions due to fundamental disagreements over the issue of chattel slavery. He added that the Episcopal Church felt compelled to dismantle its refugee resettlement program entirely due to its disagreement with the Trump administration prioritizing white Afrikaners from South Africa over Brown and Black refugees from other countries.
"So we're already seeing some moves, and even breaks within the Christian world," Jones said. "I think we may be heading for some very difficult days."
"You mean actual violence or do you mean very, very intense political disagreement? Harwood asked.
"I'm deeply, deeply worried about the midterm elections being a flashpoint for violence in this country," Jones responded.
Watch the segment below:
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